No change in creative questions format: Education minister

SYLHET :: Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid Sunday said the government will not change its decision on reducing 10 marks from Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) method at both SSC and HSC examinations.

“This will not change. There is no reason or logic for it. The students are not getting less time,” he told the media after a meeting with academics on Sunday.

Students of schools and colleges across the country have started movements demanding an end to the new format.

Protesters said pressure would mount as they would have to answer seven creative questions within 2 hours 20 minutes -- only 10 minutes more than when they had to answer six.

"We will not change our decision on reducing marks on MCQ question.... We want to bring a qualitative change in question paper system through increasing 10 marks on creative question system," he told a press briefing after holding a meeting with educationists in the conference room of the Education Ministry.

The minister told that previously the students would get 21 minutes and 40 seconds to answer each creative question, and now they will get 21 minutes and 26 seconds.

But they will get to choose seven questions out of 11 questions whereas previously they had to pick six questions out of nine, he added.